The MMPI is “the original” and most authoritative personality test (being as it has been “studied” the most extensively (ie. the results correlated to random things); it is also quite extensive). Unlike other personality tests where all the possibilites are generally positive, this one does a good job of spitting out problematic traits. This happens to make this test actually useful.
It takes about an hour to complete the form and analyse the results. I’m sure you can pay to automate this, but as a demo it should summarise:
Normal: Yes / No / Mostly / Not so much
(pay for detailed report)
Of course most people would come out as Mostly.

We think and organize our complex thoughts using models that manifest as analogies and metaphors. Of course we do this because we cannot perceive all the raw data of a system at once, nor is it even available– never mind that the validity, form, and existence of “raw data” is unknown. We must create abstractions to think and to communicate. The language we speak is a somewhat fundamental example of this. These ideas on their own are cool, but not actionable. The application comes from using this knowledge to influence how people think.
Oh right, the journal article.
[via reddit]